


Air and Angels

by Captain_Jane_Harkness



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/F, First Meetings, My First Work in This Fandom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-20
Updated: 2014-04-09
Packaged: 2017-12-15 13:22:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/850016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Captain_Jane_Harkness/pseuds/Captain_Jane_Harkness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How Vastra and the Doctor came to meet, how the Doctor saved the life of Jenny Flint, and how a lizard woman from the dawn of time fell in love with her wife.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One: They in the Burnt Ship Drown’d

**Author's Note:**

> The research for this story was certainly more extensive than I originally anticipated. I'm endeavoring to make this work as canon as possible, with all of the tidbits strewn throughout various media. I love first times and Jenny/Vastra, so since there seemed a serious lack of stories addressing how they got together... I decided to make it my summer project!
> 
> Thanks to dragonsigma of tumblr for the idea of Venusian Aikido. :)

Time and space, that’s what they wanted. That’s what would be good for them, to be honest. Settle down, have time as a nice and safe married couple in their house with their car, living their perfectly ordinary, perfectly boring lives. The Doctor sighed, twiddling his fingers absently on the handrail on his beloved TARDIS. How could they just be and be content with it? 

He needed something. He needed.

“A distraction, that’s it,” he said, clapping his hands together with glee, “A distraction is just the thing. Just the thing indeed. So. So, where do we go.”

He spun, rubbing his hands together, until he faced the console. He paced back and forth. Someplace human? When? Where? So many questions. Too many answers.

“Well, how about it sexy?” he whispered, sliding his hands along the console, “Surprise me.”

Springing into action, throwing levers at random, he spun around again. “Right. Someplace new then, something exciting. Come on old girl. Where to.”

The TARDIS jumped forward knocking the Doctor back against the railing. He already had a gleam in his eye. For all the time that he had been traveling, there were always times he hadn’t been to, planets, stars, systems that he hadn’t been to. And it was always exciting.

“Let’s see where you took me this time,” he said, adjusting his bow tie before hopping down the stairs. “Some place… new.”

Opening up the door he frowned. Closing the door, he turned back to look at the TARDIS console before opening the door again. Giving a sniff, tasting the air, he swung the door closed and made a disgusted sound.

“London?” he asked. “That’s new? How is that someplace new? And Victorian London? We’ve done this how many.”

An explosion rocked the floor of the TARDIS. Instantly, his eyes lit up with a smile. Trouble, trouble was always good. Could be a new kind of trouble. New trouble was almost as fascinating as someplace of sometime new.

“Never mind,” he said to the TARDIS before he dashed out.

Women and men pushed past them down the street, but none seemed to be overly concerned that something had just exploded. Construction dust was billowing in the air. He tasted the air again as he tried to push towards the trouble. Late 1870s if he had a guess. He couldn’t make out what was going on behind the huge fences that had been erected in the middle of the road, so he clambered on top of two creates stacked nearby, heedless of the stares that followed him as he grabbed the top of the fence and peered over. London Underground construction in full swing then, the Doctor thought to himself, trying to gauge where he was in reference in the construction. Somewhere between Mansion House and Aldgate was his guess, looking ‘round at the buildings around him for reference. Honestly, the specifics didn’t matter. What mattered was there was trouble and he was interested.

“Oh for,” he rolled his eyes as he realized. No real trouble at all. Just perfectly normal, perfectly ordinary construction.

The gaping tunnel with wooden supports that would eventually become the tube decades later stretched long behind wooden gates. Just business as usual, none even seemed concerned as they sometimes vanished down tunnels and passages that had already been sealed and covered over, down to where they were expanding, blasting and drilling holes in the earth. The Doctor cast a look over his shoulder to where the TARDIS was still visible, tucked between two buildings. He would have to have a nice long chat about what constituted new and exciting.

A commotion interrupted his musings. A horse was violently trying to free himself from two handlers trying to calm him and the Doctor couldn’t make anything out over his screaming. He was screaming something that the Doctor couldn’t actually make sense of. Something about a snake. A snake in the middle of London construction was new. Possibly exciting, even though he had his doubts. It was worth investigating at any rate, now he was here. Giving his bowtie a final adjustment with that thought, he hopped down from his perch and headed off for the construction site entrance.

Stepping over one beam and under another, the Doctor brushed off his jacket before making his way over to where the two men were still struggling with the horse, who was finally starting to be sensible. 

“And you’ve no idea what’s wrong with the beast?” an official gentleman asked who had just walked over ahead of the Doctor. 

“Nossir,” one of the men replied, his muscles bulging trying to keep the poor thing from rearing again. “’E’s been fine with the blasting for near a fortnight now sir. Wasn’t the blasts. ‘E started off only when the dust started clearin’.” 

“Well, calm him down,” the other gentleman said with a frown. “Would be terrible to waste good horseflesh for such hysteria.” 

“Yessir,” the man said, starting to murmuring soothing words and stroking the horse’s neck as soon as the man left.

The horse was still clearly distressed, prancing with his nostrils flared, his ears still practically flat they were turned so far back. 

“If you wouldn’t mind?” the Doctor asked as he approached, immediately getting both the horse and handler’s attention. “I’ve a way with horses.” 

One of the horse’s ears came around to follow the Doctor’s approach. 

“And who are you then?” the other man asked him, crossing his arms over his chest, letting go of the harness now that it seemed that the other man had a handle on things. 

“I’m the Doctor,” he said quickly, “Now if you’ll excuse me I’m trying to listen.” 

Samson was explaining that there was something wrong underground. He was perfectly fine and content hauling things around, the men with him were really very nice and sometimes snuck him treats after very long days. The men had found something irregular and had decided to make loud noises around it. Samson didn’t like it. There were hole things and now he saw a snake down in the tunnel. The men weren’t listening. 

“Oy, did you hear me?” the man said loudly. “Doctor of what exactly. You’re not allowed here.” 

“Actually I am,” the Doctor said, “Thank you Samson, most informative. I’ll take care of it, not to worry. I’m sorry you were saying something?”

“I said you weren’t allowed here,” he said.

“Here,” the Doctor said, extending a hand with the psychic paper, “As you can see I have the full authority to be here and to oversee this entire enterprise.”

The man looked uncomfortable, but nodded, “Right. Right then, but you’ll have to be seeing Mr. Jones then, still.”

“’E can’t read,” the other man, still by the horse’s ear said. “But he’s right. Mr. Jones clears everyone. It’s not safe for all to be walkin’ ‘round.”

“And this Mr. Jones is…” the Doctor began, peeking up and looking around, he spotted the man and his hat talking to other workers. “Right. Just so you know,” he said to the man stroking the horse, “he would love another apple snuck in whenever you have the chance.”

Leaving the two men with Samson sputtering slightly, the Doctor walked briskly over to the man he assumed to be Mr. Jones who was nodding over a pad of notes that a worker covered in grime and dirt was holding out to him.

“Still behind. That extra excavation will cost us,” Mr. Jones said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You’re sure it needed to be done?”

“Yes sir,” the man replied, rubbing the back of his neck, smearing the dirt across his skin. “There was a strange feel to the ground when we first found the air pocket. We had to blast our way through the stone.”

“Blast through the stone you say?” the Doctor asked, already curious and now more than a little wary of what the facts were adding up to.

Both men’s heads whipped to him in an instant, both with the identical frown.

“I’m sorry and you are?” Mr. Jones asked.

“I’m the Doctor, my credentials are here,” he said, again opening the psychic paper up for closer inspection.

“Hm,” Mr. Jones said with barely concealed disdain eyes flicking between the paper and the Doctor’s face as he replied. “As it turns out we actually have need of you then. Though your timing is certainly suspect. Geological specialist.”

“Right, well that’s me. Wouldn’t mind if I went and checked this occurrence would you?” the Doctor asked.

Mr. Jones looked like that was the last thing he wanted to allow to happen. 

“Well, if our financial supporters felt it necessary to send you down here, it would certainly be rude to refuse you now wouldn’t it,” Mr. Jones replied. “Do be careful though. These sites are dangerous. Wouldn’t do for there to be any accidents. Jameson?”

The other man took a breath in to protest, but caught the eye of the gentleman and closed his mouth. The gaze he leveled at the Doctor was certainly less than pleasant.

“This way. Sir,” he said. 

“Right, well then lead on Jameson,” the Doctor said.

“Mind your step sir,” the man said over his shoulder as they descended into the construction. “And your head.”

As they climbed down the stairs that the workers had carved out of the earth and under the support scaffolding, the Doctor ducked to hide his sneaking out his sonic screwdriver for a quick scan of the earthen walls, consisting mostly of soft blue clay. Normal mineral composition. Traces of others that were too small to identify. He ducked under a man carrying a beam, still keeping Jameson in his sight. 

Suddenly he frowned and stopped.

“Oh dear,” he said quietly. “Jameson!”

Jameson turned, exasperated.

“How many men do you have in these tunnels?” he asked loudly, calling over the echoing of men working.

“There’s about ten or twelve men working in the shield where we’re going, Doctor…” Jameson said, fishing

“Just the Doctor,” he replied, stepping up and around a man wheeling dirt past him in a wheelbarrow.

“Well Doctor, the issue came with the shield being forced to stop its forward motion. We needed an unscheduled service shaft blasted down through in order to clear it. Mr. Jones didn’t like the notion, but nothing could be done for it. The shield should be moving forward as scheduled though, once the service shaft is complete and the shield can be repositioned for forward motion once more,” Jameson said.

The Doctor finally looked at the man before him when he had dismissed him before. There was an intelligent head on his shoulders. The Greathead Shield was a marvelous feat of human ingenuity in his opinion and the man before him seemed to have the working knowledge needed as an overseer. 

“Why the service shaft then?” he asked.

“To be honest sir, we’re hoping you could tell us. The initial surveys didn’t suggest anything like the hard stone we encountered. It’s…” Jameson paused.

“Unusual,” the Doctor supplied.

“That’s one word for it. We needed special permission for the blast, we had to explain why we simply couldn’t dig it out, the stone just kept going down. It didn’t make any sense,” he said.

“Yes well it never does for you humans now does it?” the Doctor murmured, opening the hatch in the sonic screwdriver again.

“Sorry?” Jameson asked.

“Never mind. Now this is to be the main tunnel, where is the service shaft that you were having so much trouble with?” the Doctor asked.

“This way,” Jameson asked, brow furrowed. “Here.”

“Oh,” the Doctor said, experimentally giving two quick hops on the ground. “Oh no, no no no no no!”

Dropping down the floor of the service shaft he scanned along its length and then up the sides were there were the remnants of a striations of stone in the clay. Thick, manufactured, circular, stones. He kicked the sides of the walls and pushed it with his hands. Tunnels. 

“Up, we need to get up! I need to check near the service,” the Doctor said, frantic with the now confirmed suspicions in his head.

“We can walk back to the,” Jameson began.

“No. Now! Hello!!” the Doctor called out.

A worker poked his head over the top of the tunnel.

“Lower a rope or something we need to get out of here and up there. Now!” the Doctor shouted.

The stunned man looked towards Jameson who nodded. The man shrugged, and turned before a blade appeared, flushed with crimson through his chest. Eyes opened in shocked surprise, the man looked down at the blood soaking his shirt and the blade jutting out of his chest, before he looked back down at the Doctor and Jameson. His body pitched forward and he was pushed off the blade and down, his body landing with a thick thud at their feet.

“No!!” Jameson yelled, dropping to his knees, but already the Doctor was off at a run to the stairs they had originally descended.

His mind whirled. Their defenses weren’t as solid as they had been in 2020 which could be for numerous reasons. Most likely this was a smaller group. But a small group was just as bad as a large group. No matter how many, it needed to be contained.

By the time he broke the surface, dashing towards the top of where the service shaft stood gaping to the world, there was a gathering and a commotion of men talking. Many were calling for a constable, others for the Yard. Jameson was barely coherent, still in the service shaft, trying to attend a man who had already been dead for some minutes. Surveying the ground, there was only one disturbance that could have allowed for a gravity bubble that would allow someone to surface. Looking up and gauging the distance, he could see that Samson also had the ability to see if someone surfaced at this point.

“Right, terribly sorry,” the Doctor said, pushing his way into the throng. “Whoever’s doing this needs to be caught, but he have less of a chance of them killing again if we’re together. Is there a way to gather the workers?”

“Jameson has a whistle, we’d confer at the entrance to the shield,” one of the men supplied.

“Good, very good. Right. Jameson?” the Doctor called down into the hole, seeing the grief stuck man sent a pang into his hearts. “I’m really very sorry for your loss. I’m going to need you to give the signal to gather the men!”

Jameson nodded, but it seemed to take him too long to actually rally himself before a yell made their attention turn back to the main tunnel entrance. All the men took off at a run, even as the whistle echoed through the tunnels below them.

“Cover for the shield?” the Doctor asked as they ran. 

“Yes,” the other man said, huffing as he ran.

The Doctor nodded as they ran. They made it to the group of panicked men, their expressions and gestures clearly showing their agitation. They looked up when the Doctor and Jameson rejoined the party.

“Both Jones and Davie have gone missing,” the tallest of the group said.

“Not good,” the Doctor said, brain spinning as quickly as he could manage. “Okay, here’s the plan. Chances are, if they’re missing, they’re gone. A small group remain here. Stick together. Try not to panic. The rest of you. With me.”

The groups divided with little trouble after it became clear that Jameson was still recovering from finding one of his workman’s blood on his hands. Two workers escorted Mr. Jones from the area for temporary reasons unknown. The rest divided into two groups half went to the finished area of the tunnels where both Jones and Davie had vanished, armed with shovels and picks. 

The Doctor was the one who entered the shield area alone. The lid of the shield was not necessary, but had been authorized after some accidents had made moving it to this location feasible and worthwhile. Armed with a gas lantern, the Doctor waited, perching the lantern on the top shelf, inside the shield itself. It had been a long enough time since the incident that had killed Alaya and he had made a study during the interim of the upgraded Silurian armor. Closing his eyes, he relaxed against the shelf, closing his eyes, and praying that only one Silurian had surfaced and praying even harder that they took the bait.

As he heard a slight hissing noise approach, the Doctor let out a small breath in relief. Pushing away from the wall, he turned with his eyes still closed to face the shelf with the lantern. Waiting, he listened. Turning in a shift motion, he used his far arm to smack aside the incoming blade and jab in with the three fingers of his other hand, hitting the break in her armor just beneath her silver neck rings, just slightly to the right. Her left knee hit the ground and the Doctor delivered a quick chop slightly to the side and back of her neck, causing her to collapse completely to the floor.

“Now!” the Doctor called out, grabbing the blade from the floor and tossing it out before the shield cover closed. The slide remained open to let in light and air, but the three men sliding the door shut made sure that it wouldn’t be opening from the inside.

Taking a length of rope from under his jacket he carefully and tightly bound the Silurian’s hands in front of her. Counting in his head, the Doctor made sure that she would stay unconscious as he leaned forward and removed her mask, setting it aside. Removing himself, he moved to the far wall of the shield, leaning against the metal frame and crossing his arms, waiting.

“I know you’re awake,” the Doctor said.

Blue eyes flicked open, practically glowing in the lantern light. Hatred was clear in every portion of her body as she slowly and deliberately drew her legs up, and sat up to face him.

“I’m the Doctor, and who are you?” he asked.

“You are an ape and you speak my language,” she said, narrowing her eyes.

“No and yes. I’m not a human, not matter my appearance, but yes I can speak your language. And I’ve told you what you can call me. What’s your name?” he asked.

A moment passed as she considered.

“Vastra,” she replied with a short hiss, biting the word off, “My name. Is Vastra.”


	2. Chapter Two: Within the Glowing Egg, a Bird

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own none of these characters. I also do not own two of the quotes which were taken from the Brilliant Book 2012, from a section detailing how Vastra and the Doctor met.

The Doctor took a few moments to simply observe the lizard woman in front of him.  There was a great intelligence there, certainly.  What he was looking for was something to actually reason with.  Something, anything, to give him hope that she would be content with an end that wasn’t similar to Alaya. 

“So,” Vastra said, her tongue darting out to catch a vague spot of blood at the corner of her mouth.  “What happens next?”

“Carry on fighting, and you’ll die,” the Doctor said with a smile.  “Or you can live.  Which may well be more fun.”

Vastra seemed to consider, her head tilting sharply to the side as her eyes narrowed.

“Oh, I wouldn’t try that, believe me.  I’m not sure if you’ve used your venom or not recently, but if not,” the Doctor smiled again, though this time Vastra could see that it had very little of its earlier charm.  “I would highly encourage you not to.  I’m feeling rather generous right now, but I don’t think I’m in the mood for second chances today.”

Vastra’s face turned immediately to rage.

“They killed my _sisters_.  My _family_ ,” Vastra spit out.  “Why should I not make them pay for that?  Tell me _Doctor_.”

“It’s difficult to believe I know, but revenge will hurt you far more than you know.  The Silurians will one day live peacefully with the humans,” Vastra scoffed in disgust, turning away to the wall as the Doctor continued, “Though it seems unbelievable now.  The last encounter I had with the Silurians did not end well because of a warrior’s brash actions.  Please.  Please let this not end as that did.”

The Doctor let a true smile creep onto his face as he saw sadness begin to replace the rage on her face.  Silurians were always hard to read.  Mentally he cursed when her face grew hard again as her eyes flicked up to his.

“You have me in a cage Doctor,” Vastra said, “How am I to leave this place if not dead?  Why would you dangle false hope at…”

Abruptly, Vastra’s voice cut off as a young woman materialized in their midst.  Dressed smartly in a Victorian walking suit, she smiled brightly at the Doctor, violet eyes beaming with excitement as she looked between Vastra and the Doctor.

“Well then, Vastra, Doctor,” the woman said, nodding at each in turn as she let her arms fall to her sides.

She frowned suddenly and put her hands on her hips, turning to the Doctor.  “Have I got the time wrong?  Has she agreed to put aside the revenge?”

The Doctor beamed, rubbing his hands together.

“Excellent.  Lovely having friends in all times and places.  You’ll have to excuse Vastra, she hasn’t picked up English just yet.  Vastra, this is Titaniana Stewart, not to be confused with the fairy queen Titania,” he said now speaking Silurian for Vastra’s benefit, pausing as the two sharing a smile like a great secret joke, “Of almost the same name, now known as Hestia Tildey.”

“Ep! Stage name,” she said with a grin.

Vastra was beginning to lose her anger again as the Doctor watched, filling with something now very close to curiosity.  The Doctor smiled at Vastra then. 

“There now, a way out.  Accurate, as you said before,” the Doctor said.  “This is in fact a cage.  So you can come with us, or stay here.  It is your choice.  But I’ll have no more killing if you come with us.”

Vastra looked at him and then back to the ape smiling at her.  Cocking her head again, she thought.  Revenge could be put off, even only temporarily.

“I shall agree.  Only if you explain how you speak the language of my people,” Vastra said before turning from the Doctor to look at the woman.  “And how she came to be here.”

“Done,” the Doctor said, jumping forward kneeling down and releasing Vastra from her bonds quickly before she could change her mind, “Now do I need to give you any coordinates or…”

“Course not,” Titaniana said with a grin, holding up a slip of paper that she had pulled from one of the decorative pockets in her skirts. 

Vastra stood quickly as Titaniana approached the pair, stepping back when the woman knelt on the floor, her skirts pooling about her.  Titaniana adjusted the controls on her wrist strap before she looked up at the two of them and raised her eyebrows.

“You both should probably come close and duck,” she said.

“Right,” the Doctor said adjusting his trousers and kneeling.

“Why are…” Vastra began before the Doctor beckoned at her.

“Trust me,” the Doctor said with a smile before turning to the door of the shield and calling out.  “Oy!”

Vastra knelt quickly as they heard the commotion outside the door starting to rally once more.  The door ground open as angry and curious men looked inside to only find a coil of rope and a low burning lantern.

Standing up from his crouch behind the TARDIS, the Doctor shook out his arms and neck.  Vastra stayed carefully where she was, her back pressed against the alley wall.  The Doctor could almost see her mind whirling to take in the change in location.  Titaniana rose smiling.

“I’ll have to be getting back to the theatre now, it was nice catching up with you,” she said, brushing off her skirts.  “I’m sure you’ll enjoy over conversation twenty minutes ago.”

The Doctor smiled and asked, “It went well then?”

“It will,” Titaniana said with a grin as she tucked her wrist strap back underneath her sleeve.

“You’re still at the Palace Theatre then?” he asked.

“Of course.  Your usual spot is still reserved.  Make it twenty minutes before the hour if you please,” Titaniana said, adjusting her hat.  “I’m sure I’ll be seeing more of you both.”

“Oh is that so?” he asked giving her a flirty grin.

“Behave you,” she said, playfully whacking him.  “What would your wife say?”

Turning, Titaniana left the alley in a swirl of navy colored skirts.  The Doctor grinned after her.

“Always refreshing talking with someone who doesn’t have such a fixed concept of time,” he remarked offhandedly to her disappearing shadow.

“Doctor, I would appreciate your explanations now,” Vastra said from her determined crouch in the shadows.

Vastra seemed to be trying to keep herself as still as she could, much like her less intelligent reptilian relatives.    The Doctor considered her.  Yes, there was a small amount of fear that came without understanding, but that was probably more due to the fact that the TARDIS’s translation circuit had made its way inside her head and was now translating English for her.  Vicinity wasn’t necessary after a point, but for stubborn minds, it certainly helped with the first connection.

“If you would come with me then?” he asked.  “I do have a note to deliver.”

The Doctor walked around to the front of the TARDIS, he opened the door walking in before he turned inside and poked his head out.  Vastra was still uneasily crouched against the wall.  Her head turned to the side, doubtlessly listening to the loud commotion coming from the work site that had nothing to do with the construction.

“You’ll have to follow me,” the Doctor said leaving the door open behind him before he ducked inside.

Springing up the stairs, he took for granted that Vastra would follow him.  She did have a choice obviously, but he did have the future to rely on after all.  Hopefully.  Fingers twitched slightly, he searched along the console before he found the scrap of paper that Titaniana would eventually wave at him.  Checking his watch, he scribbled the time of their rescue on the paper.  Thinking, the Doctor adjusted the coordinates in his head, translating for a vortex manipulator before he wrote them down too.  Granted, he could have taken the note from her, then simply taken it back in time with him.  Paradoxes so small normally corrected themselves, but why risk it.

“So you decided to come in then?” the Doctor said, turning around with a smile as Vastra closed the door of the TARDIS behind her.

“What is this technology?  It is unlike anything I have seen my people or these apes cultivate.  How does the inside fit within the outside?” she asked, her eyes wide to take in the sight.

The Doctor grinned.  The TARDIS could win over even the hardest of hearts.  She was awe inspiring and impressive like that.  Behind his back, he absentmindedly patted the console.  He waited until Vastra’s eyes came back up to meet his.

“It’s called a TARDIS, Time And Relative Dimension In Space,” he said his finger setting apart every word.  “It travels in time and space.  It isn’t human or Silurian so I’m not surprised that you haven’t seen anything like it before.  And you’re now understanding English became that’s the TARDIS translation circuit, working inside your head.  Now, about the note.  Hold on.”

Flipping two levers, the Doctor moved quickly around to a viewer screen, double checking the lock that he had put on Titaniana’s dressing room years before.

“Annndd… go,” the Doctor said with a grin as the sounds of the TARDIS working echoed around them.

Double checking his viewer screen to make sure he’d landed in the right time, the Doctor snatched up the note from the console and scrambled down the stairs to where Vastra was standing by the door.  He paused to smile at her before moving around her.  He was immediately confronted with an embroidered screen which made him pause.

“Just a minute!  You know Doctor, you should find a way of announcing yourself before just appearing in a girl’s dressing room,” a voice came over the sounds of music being played.  “There.”

Abruptly the music stopped, before the screen was folded back and the Doctor saw the smiling face of Titaniana folding back the dividing screen.  She cocked her head to the side curiously, taking in the TARDIS behind him.

“Doctor?” she asked, “I like the new hair.  Um, not sure about the…”

Titaniana gestured and the Doctor tucked his chin in and adjusted his bowtie looking affronted.

“It’s a bowtie, bowties are…” the Doctor shook his head.  “Never mind.  Besides, coming from a woman whose native era invented the cross throng jacket and decided to reside in the era of the corset and bustle, should you really be pointing fingers?”

Titaniana glared at him, until the corner of her mouth began to twitch.  The Doctor’s mouth started to twitch to match hers before they both started laughed at the same time.

“Right, definitely missed you,” the Doctor said, before he gestured behind him, waving Vastra out over his shoulder. 

Vastra walked out of the TARDIS behind the Doctor.  Taking in the room, she walked up close behind the Doctor.  The Doctor had to smile at her before looking back at Titaniana.  He was honestly impressed.  The Silurian was showing restraint, curiosity, and though he might be being too optimistic, he might even say she was interested.

“Vastra, this is Titaniana, Titaniana, Vastra,” the Doctor said with a grin.

“Pleasure to meet you,” the woman said with a smile. 

“We’ve met,” Vastra said looking at her strangely.

“Have we?” Titaniana asked, looking at the Doctor.

The Doctor handed her the note which she scanned quickly, her smile growing wider with every word.

“It would be nice if you sometimes would pop in to say hello and not just when you need rescuing you know,” the woman said, crossing to a trunk which had her layers of clothing strewn atop it.

“Wouldn’t be fun that way,” the Doctor said, walking around the room, taking in the new posters, vases of flowers, programs, and sheet music on various surfaces.

“Now Vastra, what threw you in with the Doctor?” Titaniana asked, stripping off her dressing gown and hanging it behind the door.

“Well it was more of a sabotaging event.  Tunnel workers unfortunately blasted near the air shafts of her sisters were they were interred underground.  Complete accident, but the others were killed. Vastra was intent on taking revenge on them all,” the Doctor said carefully, eyes flicked between the two different women.

“Is she still?” Titaniana asked, before addressing Vastra, “Are you still?”

“The apes murdered my sisters.  This planet should be ours, we certainly had first claim to it.  But as the time passes, I realize that I cannot possibly reclaim the planet.  I am…. alone.  On my own.  My family ripped from me, all dead, friends dead.  I was full of rage, but now… Now I am torn.  I would have gladly died in my revenge,” she paused staring at the wall.

“You may have saved me Doctor,” Vastra said finally coming to look at him.  “But what is the good in saving my life when I have nothing for which to live?”

“You do this often Doctor,” the blonde woman remarked before he could reply, as she slipped a petticoat over her bustle.  “You often do not consider the aftereffects of your deeds.  You let us pick up the pieces.”

“Now hold on,” the Doctor began before she interrupted.

“Ep!” she said holding up a finger.  “Here you have no say.  Couldn’t you ask her where she would prefer to go?”

“Go?”  Vastra asked, cocking her head.

Titaniana smiled, “I believe that we need a more detailed introduction.  I’ll do yours and you do mine?”

The Doctor made a sputtering remark but Titaniana didn’t give him a moment to think before she jumped right in. 

“The Doctor is a Time Lord, over nine hundred years old by now and travels throughout space and time in the TARDIS,” Titaniana said and gestured to the blue box. “What he doesn’t often say is that he takes a companion around with him, sometimes more than one.  He gets lonely.  And frankly, it’s very bad for him.”

The Doctor waved his hands at her to stop her saying more as he interrupted, “Titaniana and I met when she was about to launch an investigation regarding a missing time cabinet.  She was a Time Agent at the time and I… convinced her to decide on an early retirement.  There was a scandal involving mind control and memory erasures on the inside of the Agency that she helped me with.”

“Time Lord, Time Agency…” Vastra looked between them.  “These are too many new words.  You travel through space and time, and look like an ape, yet you are not one.  And you, you are…human, and you also do this?”

“I used to,” Titaniana said, slipping on and tying her overskirt,  “As the Doctor said, I’m retired.  Now I sing and dance at the Palace Theatre.  I love it here, being the final act.  A singing, dancing, male impersonator.  How I disappear off stage is the best though.  I even beat out Little Tich for applause. Jago keeps pestering me to know how I manage the disappearance, but I’ve always told him the day he figures it out is the day I leave.”

Fixing her jacket on, the woman began buttoning the endless pearl buttons.  Pausing halfway in her progress, she looked at the Doctor, and said, “You know you never answered my question.  Why would she have to stay here?  There has be a place for….wait.  Si _lur_ ian.”

“Oh I knew there was something familiar about her.  I’ve known Silurians,” Titaniana gave her a easy and friendly smile before turning to him, full of something that Vastra felt she should almost be offended by, “Doctor.  There are plenty of places you could take her where humans mix with Silurians easily.  And Vastra, don’t think that you wouldn’t be welcome here.  I’d certainly welcome you any time you dropped by.”

Vastra stood tall before she spoke, “Your words are kind, but I would be just as out of place here with humans or there with my own kind as I would anywhere else.”

“You would never know until you try,” Titaniana responded as she slipped on her undersleeves.  “I’m certainly out of place here.  Or I was.  You would be amazed at the things that go on underground in London.  Even when you are trying to stay out of trouble.”

“Now where’s the fun in that,” the Doctor said with a small smile.

“There’s something different about you,” she said slowly, picking up the brown leather strap from the side table and starting to strap it on, “You’re not sad anymore.  If I knew you, I’d say you found someone.”

The Doctor shrugged, absently fiddling with his jacket, “Nothing like that.  Two traveling companions.  They’re hopeless for each other, nothing like that.”

Titaniana crossed the room quickly, making him back up and bang his legs awkwardly into her make-up desk.  He brought his hands up, fluttering almost like he wanted to shoo her away as her eyes searched his intently.

“There’s something you haven’t told me.  And yes, I think it is like that,” she said adamantly.  “Spill.”

“I… It’s nothing,” he said, drawing himself up, as if that would remove her from where she was so close to the front of him that her skirts pressed in and almost engulfed his legs.

“Tell,” she said.

“There’s nothing really to tell,” he sputtered.

“Tell me now or I won’t go back for you,” she said.

The silence stretched on with her holding his gaze evenly and determined as his eyebrows stretched into his hairline, his mouth opening and closing a bit like a fish before he closed it with a click of his teeth.

“I may have gotten married,” he finally said in a rush.

Titaniana backed up quickly, her eyes wide and her hand over her mouth.  She turned her back, her shoulders shaking slightly.  The Doctor took a step after her, looking slightly unsure as to what to do, trading a quick glance with Vastra before deciding the Silurian would probably be little help.  Suddenly, she whirled around again, and the shaking revealed itself for what it was.  Both hands were over her mouth now trying to smother her laughter.

“Oh,” she gasped finally.  “May the gods pity the woman to keep up with you.  Bless, I hope I get to meet her one day.”

Titaniana collapsed into laughter again, as she started pulling on one of her gloves, using her naked hand to wipe at a tear from her eye.  Shaking her head, she adjusted the settings on her vortex manipulator. 

“I mean it Doctor,” she said with a smile that reached through and made her eyes positively shine with laughter, “If you and she venture into my neck of the woods, you introduce her to me.  I’ll hunt you down if I know I missed the opportunity.”

Without another word, the woman pressed the button on her wrist and vanished in a flash of light, leaving both the Doctor and Vastra blinking in her wake.

“Times have not changed so much,” Vastra said, making the Doctor turn to look at her, “Apes still behave very strangely.”

“But not nearly as strangely as Time Lords,” the Doctor said, leading the way back into the TARDIS.  “She did have a point after all.  I could take you anywhere you wished to go.  To the height of the Silurian’s reign of the planet before you were forced underground.  Or you could travel to the future when your people emerge to comingle with humans on the surface.  Or…”

The Doctor looked hesitant trying to assess her feelings before he added, “Or you could travel with me.  Anywhere in the known or the unknown universe.”

Vastra looked around the TARDIS, listening to the steady hum and occasional clicks and beeps of various instruments as she walked forward and up the stairs to the console.  It seemed so strange.  Sorrow still gripped her heart, even despair, but nothing was near the rage that had only an hour ago consumed her.  The Doctor’s offer, a chance to see her people again before they were thrown into the frenzy that had led to her ultimately and willingly entering a statis chamber was a thrilling one.  But it wouldn’t be nearly the same.  She wouldn’t be able to see the sisters that she held most dear, they were gone, dead without even the dignity of a warrior’s death.

“I will go with you,” Vastra said finally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Comments are always welcome. The timeline for this put me through the ringer because I'm trying to keep it as canon as possible, but now that I have it set, the updates should come easier and quicker. :)


	3. Farewell, Green Fields and Happy Grove

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all, prepping for Otakon left this a wee bit delayed sorry! And every time I pick up to write my muse kidnaps me. The next chapter promises to be even longer and more action packed. Enjoy! :)

Two shadows were illuminated against the organic hallway as they ran. Together, the pair vanished around a corner before the bodies attached to them slid into cover behind a pile of crates and long metal barrels. Vastra made the movement look fluid and planned, with a tuck roll that landed her soundlessly and deliberately in a half crouch cradling a weapon to her chest. The Doctor slid in next to her, landed with a barely audible thump, before scrambling backwards in a crabwalk until his back was up at the barrels.

“It will admit to you that this is not as boring as it originally threatened to be,” Vastra said, barely winded as she adjusted the controls on the pulse rifle in her arms.

The Doctor panted slightly before looking disgustedly at the gun. 

“I still don’t like that,” he said after he’d caught his breath, fiddling with his sonic as he tucked his legs out of sight, his knees up to his chest as they regrouped.

“Whether or not you like utilizing weapons, you cannot deny that they’ve saved your life,” Vastra said, dropping her voice to a whisper at the end. “It would be beneficial if you also carried..”

“No. No guns,” the Doctor said adamantly, raising his voice more than he should have.

A rumbling and scraping sound echoed further down the hall, followed by an animalistic cry. Vastra and the Doctor traded wide-eyed glances. Their cover was amassed in the middle of the hall. Though there were doors and entryways into the hall, there were even odds that whatever was behind any of them was just as dangerous as the creature now stalking him. The creature was effectively preventing them from reaching the TARDIS or any potential allies. And now they were pinned in, trapped. Vastra raised her eyebrow ridges at him and the Doctor took a huge breath. At least it couldn’t get any worse.

~~~~~~Earlier that day~~~~~~

“So where to then?” the Doctor said excitedly. “So many times so many places. The Diamond Mines of Sentalar VII, always worth the trip. Or the Ice Corridor on the Moon of Reterax, where the walls were carved for the sole purpose of hearing the wind sing when it blows through.”

Vastra frowned as she asked, “Those do sound like rather frivolous pursuits. Are all your travels like this?”

“Well,” the Doctor said trailing off a bit, “They occasionally…start that way. Nevermind. Something not frivolous eh? How about… this then.”

The Doctor started throwing switches as he carefully calculated both the when and the where of the event. Right about the end of the Earth Empire, the Empress would still be in her palace orbiting Saturn if he had it right. Granted, from what he remembered of Leabie, she’d be changing even that soon. The TARDIS whirred as it landed. The Doctor made a quick check on the monitor before grinning. 

“There we are, Earth, just a bit different now,” he said, hopping down the stairs again, past the Silurian who had barely moved since her entrance into the TARDIS. “Yes, now. If you would?”

Opening the door, he poked his head out for confirmation before leading the way out. Outside was a still silence. When he’d originally left Cwmtaff, there had been very little around. If you didn’t look too closely, not much had changed, though the church was mainly ruins, the stones of graves worn very smooth with age. It did look very similar if you didn’t look up. Up where artificial lights mimicked clear sunlight. Now, one of the largest overcities on the planet had its massive anti-grav engines pointed at this very spot.

Very little of the planet was habitable now, the pollution had grown so toxic that had eventually led to the construction of massive overcities all over the planet. Looking grim, some of the Doctor’s original enthusiasm faded as he looked around. Sometimes it was nice to conveniently forget humanity’s low times, especially when they were like this. The ruins of the church and graveyard had been designated as protected land, as well as a transit point for the overcity above. It was the only reason the air here was breathable without aid of a mask. The Doctor looked at the edges where the line was clearly defined with armed guards patrolling the borders and the entranceways. The smog and pollution crowded thick against the dome.

The Empire was crashing near its end. The poor and alien populations on Earth would begin their revolts. The Earth would collapse to begin again. And it would owe a great deal of its renewal to the alliance about to be forged. 

“Where are we Doctor?” Vastra asked.

The Doctor didn’t even want to admit it, but he hated that he had to.

“Earth,” the Doctor replied with a slight grimace. “The year 3020, over a thousand years after you surfaced.”

“Earth?” Vastra said, sounding incredulous. “This is Earth?”

Looking around and then upwards, anger began to rapidly rise up in her features. A small transport landed on the surface of a side projection of the dome, interrupting what was likely to be a colorful tirade from Vastra. Together they watched as several layers disengaged and reattached, letting the craft enter while keeping the majority of the filthy air on the outside. The transport landed itself lower on the grass, still with its slightly blue patches, now more prevalent than they had been a thousand years ago. 

“Doctor,” Vastra hissed as the shuttle opened allowing its passengers to disembark. “What do you mean that this is Earth. This place is nothing like Earth.”

“Right, well, this isn’t exactly the high point,” he said frowning as he realized that all of the passengers were human. 

“May I ask what is the point of this?” Vastra bit out, fingers twitching slightly as if she was itching to take hold of a weapon.

“The point is that this is it. This is the foundation of one of the greatest alliances in Earth’s history,” the Doctor said, slightly uneasy even as he straightened his spine and then his bowtie. 

“Who would like to align themselves with these… apes,” Vastra spat in barely contained malice.

“Funny you should say it like that,” the Doctor said out of the corner of his mouth as the group of humans made it to them.

“Are you one of the first up?” the man in front asked excitedly.

The man was the first of the seven in the group. Holding a clipboard, a cheap collared shirt and a short tie that was in with current fashion that only came to his natural waist, the man looked like a typical grunt, more brains and excitement than clout. He was also on the short side, plump, and with thinning brown hair.

“We have a larger group coming in from the Eurasia, I assure you,” he babbled excitedly. “And you are?”

The Doctor started slightly before searching in his pockets saying, “Right of course.”

He held up the psychic paper. The poor man looked like he was ready to drop his clipboard as his hands shook with excitement. 

“My solid stars, I am so sorry I wasn’t here to receive you in person! Official emissaries from Divine Empress! I understood that some had arrived early but I’ve never had the pleasure… Mr. Emissary, Madame Vastra. You’ll be supervising the Emergence I assume?” he asked.

“Absolutely,” the Doctor said, working on a safe facial expression that he seemed to think was official.

It worked for the man in front of him, though it seemed hard to not frazzle the man, “Well, perfect, excellent. Excellent. I’m certain they mentioned me? Herman Denvilles, attaché for the Continental American representatives?”

“Yes, Herman. Herman! Of course. Lead on then Herman, I wouldn’t want to interfere with your tour here,” the Doctor said, finally daring to risk a glance over at Vastra who was looking at him curiously, before flicking to where the TARDIS was parked mostly hidden by the church ruins in front of the official white stone, glass, and steel building behind it. 

“Of course,” Herman said, scribbling a note on the pad before he beckoned forward his group with the Doctor and Vastra.

“As I was discussing on our trip over, the historical Cwmtaff was actually the site of the first, documented account of the Silurians. Though the encounter has itself faded to the mysteries of time, shrouded with mystery and religion, throughout this decade the stirrings of the Silurians beneath the surface have now confirmed the fable of their return. Silurian appearances in our Sky Cities are even more prevalent, confirmed further by the… by Madame Vastra’s appearance with us today,” Herman continued, a slight sheen on his forehead the only indication that he might have been anything other than excited beyond reason. 

“If you’ll follow me to the lift?” he asked, though all were already following him.

Following the path, the entered the archway, only Vastra and one of the illustrious guests giving the TARDIS a second glance as they passed it on the way into the building. Herman bowed them into the building.

Vastra remained close to the Doctor as she leaned over to whisper, “Doctor the whole planet is populated by apes. I do not know what it is you wish to prove to me by this, but it is certainly not endearing me to them.”

“Patience,” the Doctor said, though in reality there should have been other species on the planet by now. He had assumed that at least on Earth the Overcities would have been more diverse.

“If you will please sign in with the desk?” Herman asked.

Two stood up behind the desk and the Doctor almost let out a breath in relief. Of the two that stood, only one was human, the other was Silurian. 

“Honored guests, this is Sarah and Telmac,” Herman said, almost relieved to see them. “They will check you in and operate the lift for this end.”

The Doctor relaxed back as the group moved forward, signing their names on the lines provided, giving him a moment to speak with Vastra. Though she contained her emotions very carefully, she undoubtedly had questions. Looking, he found her looking curiously at Telmac who was politely answering questions for the group as they signed in. He was courteous and direct and seemed to be enjoying his conversations with them.

“The emergence he speaks off,” Vastra said quietly to the Doctor, “It is of my people?”

The Doctor nodded carefully as he said, “It is a big moment for both of you. The Earth Empire is struggling now. The alliance with your people sends both of you to new heights. I thought you might want to see how such an alliance forms.”

Smiling, he moved forward to the desk, once again flashing the psychic paper with a smile.

“As you can see, official Emissaries from the Empress herself,” he said as he showed them. “Simply here to observe and supervise. Very official.”

“Madame Vastra?” Sarah said quizzically, checking her references. “I don’t have record of her here. Telmac?”

Telmac looked through his records, “Nor me. Oh! Must be from a different location early on. Like Hellah, remember?”

Sarah laughed and nodded, “Of course. So sorry Madame Vastra, our records only date back two years so you must have slipped through earlier. Please allow us to express our apologies. Would you write her in Telmac?”

“Of course,” he said with a warm smile at her.

Vastra made a disgusted sound behind the Doctor that made Sarah jump and flush, and Telmac to lose his smile completely. 

“Your badges,” Sarah said, no longer meeting the Doctor’s eyes as he took them.

“Thanks,” he said, smiling at both of them, waiting for Vastra to take hers and start off before he leaned over the counter, catching both of their attention. “Very cute by the way.”

The Doctor winked at them, making Sarah’s blush deepen though at least both she and Telmac were smiling as he turned to follow after Vastra where the group was moving towards the lift.

“Very good, all in?” Herman asked as they entered the lift. “Perfect size. Since the life takes only up to ten.”

“The Sky City Rhiwcas welcomes the Continental American Party,” an announcer said, as the doors opened into a large and sunny room. The group inside was hushed as the first couple came to the door and paused

“The North American Representative, Honored Karen Monti and her consort Laren Tolmoth,” the announcer said as the couple moved forward through the entryway. 

“The Central American Representative Honored Tison Ramos and his wife Sarai Ramos,” came the announcement as the next couple entered. 

“The Southern American Representatives the Honored Mariana DeStefano and Lucas Gabriel the announcer said as the last couple entered.

“Emissaries from the Divine Empress herself, the Esteemed Doctor and Madame Vastra,” the announcer said.

“That’s us,” the Doctor said with a smile. 

As they settled into the room, Vastra instinctively clutched one wrist with the opposite hand behind her back as she followed the Doctor.

“Come Vastra,” he said finally turning to her, “The point of this is to mingle. Get to know them.”

“I don’t like it. Doctor if you only knew the…,” Vastra turned her head to the side abruptly, disgust clear in her features. “Telmac below us. The pheromones he was excreting were.”

Her disgust finally seemed too much for her to go on. The Doctor looked at her curiously.

“Well Telmac seems to have been here for longer than two years, what’s wrong with him liking her?” he asked.

Vastra made a tsking sound in her throat, similar to what she had done before, “A Silurian and an ape? I can’t think of a more disgusting notion. Just the smell alone. Unbelievable.”

“Come now, they’re not all bad,” he said.

Vastra just looked at him. 

“Well, seems like you’ll need more convincing then. I suppose,” the Doctor said. “You really won’t mingle about then?”

“I don’t really see the point,” Vastra said. “There is a city of humans around us. Why would I want to associate myself with them?”

“Hm, someone that doesn’t wander off,” the Doctor said quickly under his breath, “Interesting.”

“Sorry?” Vastra asked.

“Nevermind,” the Doctor said quickly before walking quickly over to one of the staff. The nearest one was a woman making notations on a pad before her as she casually scanned the crowd with brilliant green eyes. He walked over to her.

“So who’s coming up today?” the Doctor asked the woman. “Events, times scheduled, all that.”

“Gracious, I’m sorry sir, did you not get the schedule?” she said, eyes flicking to his badge as they widened. “Right, so the Oceanic Conclave has already sent up their representatives, but they are always punctual. The Eurasian representatives are more crowded. Not only diplomats but company representatives there and they just sent in a missive that they’re stalled but incoming. The African Alliance has a group of twenty. They’re on course and on their way.”

“Anyone else?” he asked.

“Colonists have petitioned the Empire, but were turned down. Not uncommon to have those annoyances though, right sir?” she said with a bit of a laugh. “Now that some are being graciously granted independence, they’re not making too much of not being invited. Everyone’s on their best behavior now.”

The Doctor stifled any remarks he would normally have made, “What about the Silurians?”

“Ah. They’re scheduled to come up in four separate groups, pausing at the waystation for a short time before taking the lift to the city proper. From the schedule, they should be arriving with members of the African Alliance,” she said.

“And when’s that?” the Doctor asked. 

“In about ten minutes time,” she replied.

“Right. Thank you,” he turned away before abruptly turning back, “And where’s the big meeting?”

The original lift had them exit into a reception building that had been built with the specific purpose of eventually welcoming the Silurians back to the surface. The lift exited into the main building that was built to not only allow passage of others into the city from the surface, but to also move and accommodate the Silurians and diplomats upon their arrival. One of the floors was designated solely for monitoring and communicating with the Silurians underground.

The woman showed them into the adjoining room. The room they entered now had large monitors and holo-displays evenly spaced along the giant table. Buffet tables lined one side for the feast that would later take place in the same room. The chime in the other room sounded again and the Doctor and Vastra made their way back to see more guests entering. Together they watched the first group of the African Alliance be introduced. There was a pause for about ten minutes while the second half of their group came up.

The Doctor paced a bit, Vastra trailing him slightly until one of the delegates from Africa came up to her.

“You’ll excuse my impertinence ma’am. My name is Mhina,” the woman said. “I was hoping to speak with you before the official talks began. Is that alright?”

The woman was as tall as Vastra with smooth skin the color of strong coffee that seemed to glow from somewhere deep within her. Her clothing was brightly ornamented in a nod to traditional tribal colors. Her hair was clipped close which served to only accent the beautiful length of her neck and high cheekbones. Brilliant silver winked at them from her neck and wrists and shone in drops from her ears. Vastra looked to the Doctor but he waved her forward. She tucked her chin slightly and tilted her head to the side.

“What is it you would like to know?” Vastra asked, shifting slightly.

“Well, many are here to see what the Silurians can do for them,” Mhina said, “And though I have come to represent my people in this way, I must admit to a curiosity about the culture of your people. Surely it must differ in many ways.”

Vastra frowned slightly, the emotion only registering slightly by the small lowered of her brow.

“I know little of,” she paused and the Doctor saw the conscious altering of her word choice as she said, “humans. I would not know what was different.”

Mhina’s face lit up as she seemed to find a willing conversational partner.

“Well, do you find that different men are drawn to one occupation and women to another? What do your family units look like? How were you educated? Do you have specific courtship rituals?” Mhina asked, barely pausing between questions, though her voice remained calm and collected.

Vastra considered before she answered. The Doctor watched her. Her opinion of humanity seemed to be continuously in flux. She had been murdering and feasting on humans only hours ago, then she was calm and interested in Titaniana, then furious when they had traveled into the future. Mhina seemed to have her once again swinging to the other side.

“The males of my species are certainly more prevalent in the sciences and politics. Females are more often than not drawn to active occupations. It is rare to see a male soldier for example. There are male squads, but they’re inadequate. They normally serve more as medics. Does that answer?” Vastra asked.

“Yes,” Mhina said. “And your families?”

“It depends normally,” Vastra said. “Generally there are one to three eggs for every clutch. I… The families.”

Vastra stopped looking down as memories of her sisters and parents flooded her. Those she’d never see again. Sisters in arms and sisters of blood. The Doctor seemed to notice her difficulty because he tried to interrupt. Vastra held up her hand.

“Though we have individual parents, generally the children are raised in larger groups. Young children are typically let into a group nest at an early age. The ease and comfort of many minds is soothing to the young. It also allows the best nurturers to follow their calling,” Vastra paused, tilting her head to the side again. “As with your previous question, the nurturers are typically male. Education typically begins there. Much is done telepathically, though there is formal instruction later.”

“It’s all very fascinating,” Mhina said with a smile. “And courtship? How do you generally find a mate?”

“Well,” Vastra began, looking a bit uncomfortable, before the chimes sounded again.

“The Eurasian delegates have arrived,” the announcer began.

Mhina nodded to her and said with a whisper, “We’ll continue later.”

As she moved back to her group, the Doctor moved closer to take her place as the delegates were announced at their entrance.

“She was interesting,” Vastra said. “I’m correct in saying she was a female?”

“She’s a woman, yes,” the Doctor said.

Vastra let out a little huff, “They’re all the same for all their different skin and clothing.”

The two let the lull between diplomatic groups pass mostly in silence. The assistant that had shown them the meeting room came up to them excitedly as they waited for the other half of the Eurasian delegates.

“The Silurians have surfaced!” she said excitedly, though her voice barely rose. “I thought you’d like to know. The first group at any rate.”

The Doctor smiled, nodding to Vastra, trying to get her into the excitement. When he looked back to the woman in front of him he frowned. Her face had dropped as she took out her earpiece, looking at it and fiddling with it before replacing it. 

“Everything alright?” the Doctor asked.

“Hm? Oh, yes, fine,” she said quickly, her smile flashing back into place. “Nothing alarming. Just a brief blip. All going as planned.”

Turning, her excitement clearly lessened, she made her way towards the entrance. The Doctor stared after her. Vastra watched him, her eyes flicking after the woman hurrying away and the man before her.

“Doctor?” she asked. “What is it?”

The Doctor checked his watch, before looking about. No one else seemed to notice anything amiss, none of the delegates looked remotely bothering. It had been almost ten minutes between the African Alliance’s trips to the overcity. Now it was eleven minutes exactly between the Eurasian delegation. The arrival of the Silurians might have stalled the second group; that was true. The Doctor looked at the assistant now talking with another member of staff. Somehow he found himself doubting that.

“Trouble,” the Doctor said, finding himself smiling in spite of himself, “I think it’s trouble.”


	4. Chapter Four: The Shovel is the Brother

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for such an INTENSE lag here. Real life took over. But I'm back and writing! Enjoy. As always, kudos warm the author's heart. Any mistakes are all my fault. I would of course love and welcome a beta reader for this story if anyone is interested. :)

“What makes you say that?” Vastra said, drawing close to his side.

“Oh, I don’t know. Something about the lift only taking so many. The Silurians surfacing on the planet. This delay between groups and,” the Doctor paused.

A holoscreen activated over the entranceway to the hall of mingling dignitaries to reveal a masked figure with a group composed of both humans and Silurians behind them.

“And…a potential hostage situation and a kidnapper on a holoscreen in front of us all,” the Doctor finished as the gasps and sounds of outrage and horror began echoing around the room.

“Greetings dignitaries and representatives of the great and bountiful Earth Empire. So sorry to interrupt this momentous occasion,” the male voice said, sarcasm weighting down his words so heavily they practically dripped distain. “This day was a day to learn of two peoples, to come to agreements and to share this loving and beautiful home. Our wonderful Terra. Well, so sorry we seemed to miss out. But you see.... no one condescended to extend an invitation. And we did have so much to bring to the table. Don’t fret.”

The distinctive male speaker stood, the camera following him. The ten further representatives from the Eurasian alliance were on their knees, hands tied behind their backs, and blindfolded. As the camera panned, louder gasps were heard as five Silurians were revealed, bound and gagged, arms tied in front of them, and bound at the ankles, seated as they were against the wall, their limbs straight in front. It was clear he was not alone. 

Guards stood around them. From what the camera caught, it spanned on seven. Three kept their guns trained carefully on the hostages, the other faced outward to cover either sides of their group. The Doctor felt his anger stir slightly (he really did hate guns), but he dismissed it in favor of scanning the surroundings for any clue as to who they were or where they were. The guards all wore constructed helmets to hide their identities and black gloves up to their elbows, but the rest effectively killed their uniform appearance. 

The clothing they wore was old and slightly dirty. They seemed to all be mostly thin and fit, though it was hard to tell gender because they all seemed to be wearing similar padding beneath their clothing at the shoulders.

“We have sent out list of demands to each of your respective embassies. We have also given them the following deadline. One hour to meet our demands. One hour. After that hour, we shall begin to kill hostages. One every other hour, on the hour, until our demands are met. Do not let us run out of hostages. Because then,” he leaned into the camera, and since his mask bared the lower half of his face it highlighted his grim smile. “Then things get messy. UnderDogs out.”

The transmission cut short, the holoscreen glow cutting dead. Immediately, the flurry of activity began. Dignitaries huddled together on communicators contacting embassies. Others flowed forward to the staff of the building, some screaming, all demanding.

“Definitely trouble,” the Doctor said, looking aside to Vastra.

“Get me a weapon Doctor,” Vastra hissed, starting for the entryway. “Find them for me, I will handle the rest.”

“No, no!” the Doctor said, hastening after her, grabbing her arm. "No."

Vastra jerked it from him abruptly as she whirled to face him.

“Do not attempt to stop me in this, Doctor,” she said, biting the words off deliberately as she spoke, her anger heating them. “You may have stopped me from venting my revenge upon innocent apes, but you cannot deny my revenge against these…these vermin.”

“Vastra,” the Doctor said. “I know that you’re still upset and angry, but listen to me. Anger… is the shortest path to a mistake. I promise you, I promise you that we can help fix this. But I need you to be able to think. If you’re angry you won’t help anyone.”

Vastra calmed visibly, but the Doctor could still read the tension singing in the line of her neck and shoulders. It was difficult to expect this of her, he knew. He thought that seeing the peace begin would help her realize that it was possible. Now, there might actually be a better option. Grief was best tackled when there was something to do after all. And it was always better to run at something than away. He certainly had enough experience of that.

“Now,” the Doctor said. “Let’s first try to figure out where they are and how they got there.”

The woman who had given them the schedule was effectively useless. The other ambassadors equally useless. The Eurasian delegation was downright nonsensical, but it was understandable. In the second group was both a husband and a cousin of the half of the delegation that had made it up. In the end it just seemed to waste time. And no one seemed to have anything to say about the UnderDog group. Nothing anyone was admitting to at any rate.

“Waste, it’s a waste, forty three minutes now,” the Doctor muttered, checking his watch again, “If I could just get to… But why couldn’t we? That’s it!”

Vastra looked up from once again speaking with Mhina to run after the Doctor from where he was sprinting away from the general crowd.

“But surely there’s a way,” the Doctor said.

The assistant looked on the verge of tears, as she shook her head. “There’s been no communication with the surface station. It takes both ends to activate the lift!”

“Well let’s see about that,” the Doctor said. “It’s not every day that you have a genius around to help overwrite safety protocols and the like.”

“Who would that be sir?” she asked, trembling fingers dabbing at her watery eyes.

“Me,” he said with a grin.

Ten minutes later of coaxing the lift into taking them down, the doors opened. The first thing that the Doctor noticed was the crying. Then Vastra took a hissing inhale before she bolted from the elevator.

The chairs were overthrown behind the desk and both Telmac and Sarah were sprawled on the ground. Sarah was the source of the crying, her hands and near white shirt bloodied nearly to her elbows, tears streaming down her face. She looked up as Vastra knelt on the other side to help ascertain the damage. Sarah’s hands were shaking as they fluttered against Telmac’s chest. Vastra smacked Sarah’s hands aside. 

“What happened?” Vastra asked, slipping skilled fingers up along Telmac’s chin ridge to the major pulse points almost hidden behind his skull.

“It happened s-so f-fast,” Sarah stuttered. “Th-they had masks a-an h-helmets. They or-ordered us a-away from the desk and they ha-had guns. One kept the gun on uh-us and the r-rest. They guarded the lift, they herded everyone out. The Silurians had just come in. They burst in afterward but they t-took everyone! And we heard them. I screamed at them. I tried to get them to tell me what they were doing. And one t-turned around.”

Sarah buried her face in her hands. 

“He will live,” Vastra said, ripping through the layer of clothing to bear the scales and blood beneath. “I need cloth to bind the wound.”

The Doctor made to take off his jacket but Sarah was quicker. Somehow rallying herself with the thought, she ripped off her neat white blouse at the buttons, jerking it down her arms and handing it over. Vastra looked up only to take the offered fabric.

The Doctor watched as she tended to the wound. Fisting and folding the fabric to the front of the wound. She muttered under her breath as she worked, but both the Doctor and Sarah watched her careful work. Not a scale was pushed back.

“You girl come here,” Vastra said, beckoning without looking up or letting up pressure.

Vastra placed Sarah’s hands against Telmac’s chest. “Hold tight now,” she said, moving to Telmac’s other side. 

Grabbing a fist full of Telmac’s jacket, she yanked hard, tearing through the fabric straight down so it hung in two pieces. She slid her hands under him and pushed Telmac up. Vastra let out a string of hissing curses that barely made sense. There was a bigger wound on his other side. 

As she tore a strip of Telmac’s cloth to press and tie to the back wound, she asked, “This is a plasma blast. The entry wound is almost always bigger. I do not understand.”

Sarah wiped at her eyes, turning haunted eyes on the Doctor who was watching everything carefully. She looked down, wiping at her eyes with the patch of blood-free skin on her one wrist. Vastra finished the bandages, checking his pulse once more before sitting back and staring expectantly at Sarah.

“I…,” Sarah closed her eyes. “They were going to shoot me. I was yelling. Telmac threw himself in front of me. The shot got him in the back.”

Minutes later the Doctor and Vastra were investigating around the building. Telmac had been stabilized by a much subdued Vastra. In fact, she hadn’t said anything since she had told Sarah to keep pressure on the bandages and that the wounds would soon seal and he should soon awaken. The Doctor was running scans the length of the building.

“I just don’t understand!” he cried finally frustrated. “There’s no lingering traces of a teleport, there’s no signs of a craft taking off, there’s no way that they could have transported that many, that quickly unless…”

He looked up to see Vastra staring off into the distance.

“Vastra?” the Dotor asked.

She started slightly, focusing on him. He could see that there was still emotion heavy inside her. Female Silurians were always the more aggressive and spontaneous. They normally had less control over their emotions, that’s why many were drawn to be soldiers. The training and discipline helped them channel their emotions, especially feelings of aggression and violence, productively. Considering where she had been this morning, he couldn’t help feeling something almost like pride. Or he would have if the whole thing wasn’t so incredibly sad.

“They went underground,” she said finally breaking the silence. “I’m not sure how the humans did it, but it’s our technology. They used the bubbles to move them underground. There’s a large enough disturbance to account for it fifty paces in that direction.”

The Silurian gestured and the Doctor looked. Hurrying in that direction, he took a scan of the brown earth and recently disturbed grass patches. She was right. Now the smile lighting up his face couldn’t be smothered, though he kept his face turned away. Snapping up, he whirled to face her with his face serious.

“Right, so Vastra,” he said. “Fancy a trip underground?”

Vastra cocked her head slightly to the side. She was still getting used to trying to read mammalian facial expressions, but his kept twitching so. Especially now. He seemed determined to change expressions constantly, but this one had his mouth twitching up in one corner, his eyebrows bounced, and the skin under his eyes wouldn’t be still. He seemed determined to be gleeful like an unrestrained child instead of a collected adult. Vastra sighed shortly to show her exasperation. He was a challenge. But at least the trip here was more interesting than she had been previously led to believe. 

“Very well, if we must,” Vastra said.

“Excellent!” the Doctor exclaimed, walking quickly away from the patch of earth. “We’ll take the TARDIS.”

Vastra followed him as he walked back to his blue box. There was action, yes, but to save humans? She reminded herself that her own people had been taken as well. At least that good might come of it. Watching him scamper off, she calmly followed. There was too much thinking. She was still processing Telmac and Sarah. He had taken the blast for her. It was unheard of. For a Silurian and an ape? She barely repressed the sound of disgust again. Ridiculous. 

“We are in luck,” the Doctor said. “I’ve been down in these particular tunnels before. Granted the population is a bit different, I’m sure. I’m sure many have been moving above ground. Certainly if a bunch of humans got down there.”

Vastra watched again as the Doctor threw two levers, watching carefully on one of his monitors. Her brain continued to work as she slowly paced her way up to him. Something wasn’t making enough sense. Something she should have grasped immediately. His theory was not holding firm in light of the facts being presented.

“There,” the Doctor said, popping his head up to peer at her. “Should be in the right spot. Out of the way, if I remember correctly.”

Vastra simply observed, following him from behind as he hopped down the stairs to the door, all the while her head still whirling as she tried to make the events make sense. It didn’t seem to fit. She could only find two possibilities, each as unlikely as the next, but what were the alternatives?

“Just now downloading…” the Doctor murmured, adjusting to a setting on his sonic screwdriver. “Right. Perfect. Here we go.”

Together they made their way down the hallway, the Doctor absentmindedly staring at the readings on his screwdriver. As they turned to make their way around the corridor, Vastra shot out her arm, grabbing him and pulling him roughly back around the corner. A pair of Silurian guards were patrolling the hallway where he would have just casually strolled down. Vastra held a finger against her lips for silence before she took the lead, peering after where the troop had gone.

The Doctor looked at her rather breathlessly, flicking a gaze between the readings and Vastra.

“I thought it was just calibrating, but apparently I was mistaken,” he said, “But what? I don’t…unless… no…”

His eyes flicked up to meet Vastra’s again. Her gaze hardened. She saw his mind begin to grasp and entertain the possibility that was now swiftly being confirmed by the facts presenting themselves. He shook his head and she slowly nodded.

“We’ll have to be more careful then,” he said in a whisper.

“I would think that wise,” Vastra replied, watching as he fiddled again. “What is that?”

“It’s a screwdriver. Sonic screwdriver. Just downloaded a new patch to give more accurate readings for Silurian and human life readings, so it should give us something good to go on. Better directions, that sort,” the Doctor said. 

Even more cautiously now, the Doctor led their advance into the corridor, continuously scanning, but mostly trying to find the human readings. After one dead-end, they made their way back and around before a low growling sound made them pause. Both froze.

“Did you hear?” he asked.

“Yes,” Vastra replied, sniffing and tasting the air as she listened hard.

“Not human,” the Doctor said.

“No.”

“Not Silurian,” the Doctor said.

“No.”

“Run?” he asked as they heard the sounds growing closer, faster.

“Yes.”

The two turned back the way that they came, running quickly as they heard a short growling bellow echoing behind them. Vastra’s instincts were screaming that something was wrong. Something worse than whatever was now following them now. The Doctor skidded to a halt beside one of the doors in the hallway, opening it quickly and ushering Vastra inside, slamming and locking the door behind them. For a moment, they simply leaned against the door, catching their breath in the darkened room as they listened. The lumbering echoes of footsteps didn’t pass their hiding place, but began to fade into the distance.

“Doctor,” Vastra said, her voice low. “Something isn’t right.”

“I’ll say, genetic mutations. They’re definitely at it again. Some kind of beast. Devil? Quadruped, definitely quadruped,” he muttered, pressing his ear to the door.

“No,” Vastra waited until he looked up and met her eyes before continuing. “I mean something isn’t right. If the humans took their hostages down below using gravity bubbles, there is no way that one of the Silurian guard wouldn’t have noticed. If they’re patrolling in pairs so close to this area, it means that they have hands to spare. If they have hands to spare, that means that everywhere is being monitored. And if everywhere is being monitored…”

Suddenly, the lights illuminated the vast room that they had taken for a hiding place. Rows of tables and lab equipment stretched on one end while several monitors and two desks to view them were on the other.

“I believe your companion is correct, ape,” a condescending voice remarked from the far end near the second set of doors set near the monitors.

The female soldier that had spoken took a step forward, two soldiers flanking her, still with their face masks on. A smug male Silurian, dressed in a lab coat stood just behind her. Vastra watched them carefully, her blue eyes flicking from one of the armed soldiers to the other. They were outnumbered and outgunned. She eyed their plasma pistols cautiously before her eyes flicked once more up the leader.

“Finish your thought though, enlighten us all to your findings,” she said in a voice much like one of Vastra’s initial commanders. She had hated the woman then too for her condescending and demeaning manner. Hearing it from her, with what she had discovered made it all the worse.

“You allowed the humans to take their prisoners below,” Vastra hissed. “You align yourselves with them against your own kind.”

“And you are here in the company of one yourself,” she replied, shaking her head. “I shall give you this one opportunity sister. Come and help us in our goal. The apes shall eliminate themselves and we shall rise to reclaim our homeworld.”

Vastra narrowed her eyes as she said, “If it were even possible…”

“It is,” she said, her eyes sharpening on Vastra in a way she instantly disliked, almost as if she had seen something about Vastra that she couldn’t see herself.

“Sorry, don’t mean to interrupt,” the Doctor managed, “But there is a hostage situation with lives at risk. And we don’t even know the names of our captors.”

Vastra’s eyes flicked continuously around the room, searching for something, anything to help. Her pulse hummed strongly in her veins as she weighed her options. She certainly didn’t trust the yappings of the man with her.

“Silence, ape,” the soldier in charge snapped, her two guards stepping up and readying their weapons making Vastra tense. “We shall reveal nothing of our plan. However, as you both are… not members of the ambassadorial teams.”

“They may still some purpose,” the male Silurian said, interrupting her. “Take them to the others.”

“Others, right. Good. Good news,” the Doctor said, rubbing his hands together, looking at Vastra still a bit nervously.

“They can prove their resolve,” the male said with a smile that made the Doctor swallow hard. “The UnderDogs can kill them first.”

The female soldiers stepped forward and the Doctor glanced at Vastra again.

“So, not good news then,” he said, looking nervously at the soldiers advancing.

“I would say not,” Vastra said, her eyes flicking and measuring distances as her body crouched down slightly. “I would say… definitely not.”


	5. Chapter Five: To Live, and Act, and Serve the Future Hour

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finishing this was the toughest part, because I knew exactly where I wanted the story to go, and where it's going, but I just never had time to *finish*!
> 
> I hope you enjoy! Next chapter, Vastra gets to meet a woman for the first time that I'm sure everyone knows and remembers ;)

“Wait,” the commander said, everyone in the room freezing, Vastra’s eyes flicking up to the female soldier’s.

The male Silurian looked at her with anger and surprise. The commander’s eyes narrowed as she stepped forward to Vastra and it immediately set Vastra on edge, warning chimes clamoring in her mind. She didn’t like the look that she was being given.

“You look… familiar…,” the commander said, before her eyes widened in recognition and the bottom of Vastra’s stomach dropped out. To add humiliation to her sense of danger was really going to be too much.

“The flawed clutch! That was it!” the commander said in triumph. “I met the others you know. Did you know that there were three from your strain? Tainted, twisted things. Two actually served together in arms, if you’ll believe it.”

The Doctor’s eyes flicked between Vastra and the now gloating soldier in front of them. It was obvious from Vastra’s tense bearing that she knew what was being referred to. The tension singing in her body was enough that the Doctor guessed that stone could be broken against her back.

“And of course your poor ape friend wouldn’t know would he? Enough that he’s aligning himself with you, did he know he was aligning with such a disgusting representative of our species?” she sneered. “Shall I inform him?”

The question hadn’t even needed to be asked, because she plowed forward anyway, “How much do you know of us ape? Enough to know our lifespan perhaps?”

The pause was long enough that the Doctor seemed to think that she actually wanted a response this time as he wracked his brain, rubbing his fingers and doing the figures in his head. Genetically, their lifespan before going underground had been raised to almost…two hundred years on average.

“Two hundred years I’d guess now,” the Doctor said, making the commander hiss out a strange perversion of a laugh and Vastra flinch violently.

“Correct!” she crowed, giving Vastra a predatory smile and leaving the Doctor absolutely baffled. “And you see, we worked hard to grow to that. Selected restrictive breeding you see. The Silurians that had given rise to your companion’s clutch though… They had had their breeding rights revoked. Markers, you see. Genetic markers that indicated any children they could create would have significantly shorter lifespans so they were ordered to report and be sterilized. But they didn’t! Such a well-known warning story. The mother hid her eggs in clutches across the realm. Like a cuckoo. Infesting healthy broods. It didn’t matter that she and her mate were culled shortly after. The eggs were gone, hidden. But genetics will always tell, won’t they?”

In her pacing, the commander had gotten too close to Vastra. Vastra dropped to the floor, swinging her leg around violently, catching the soldier off guard and knocking her to the ground, the weapon she had had holstered on her back springing free. Vastra grabbed the weapon and, swiftly righting herself, drove an elbow violently into the lighting mechanism on their side of the room plunging it into darkness. Before waiting for her eyes to adjust, she grabbed the Doctor, spilling them both out the door they had come and into the hallway, two weapon bursts chasing them out. 

Before Vastra was able to pull the Doctor down the hallway he stopped, whipping out his crazed contraption and shone the whining light at the door. A question barely formed on Vastra’s lips before two bangs slammed into the door.

“Locked! That should hold them,” the Doctor said grinning at her. Two blasts hit the door. “Or maybe not.”

Vastra grabbed him, the pair darting down the hallway. Pausing, the two turned sharply, ducking into a corridor, the Doctor pausing to check the settings on his sonic screwdriver. He nodded that it was safe to her before his gaze flicked downward at the weapon in her arms.

“I don’t like that,” he said.

Vastra flicked her eyebrow ridge at him. The Doctor wasn’t sure but it seemed that she was confirmed her crazed impression of him.

“We are alone, in enemy territory, with an unknown running through the halls. It would be insane to explore without a weapon,” she said using that opportunity to check the weapons levels.

The Doctor tried ignoring her, checking for life signs in the nearby hallways. Humans, not too far away. He checked the time. They had at least thirty minutes before they started killing hostages. The Doctor wasn’t taking chances, marking the start time from the actual abductions in case the message had been pre-recorded. After sharing his findings, they were off, the Doctor carefully scanning all the while.

A shuddering rumble from a corridor up and to the left made the companions exchange glances. They knew that they needed to keep going forward though. Vastra nodded at a corridor further up, a turn to the right. She looked a question at him. _Can we make it?_ The Doctor swallowed, but nodded.

Together they bolted for it, turning the corner quickly, sliding into the only cover available which was a pile of abandoned crates and barrels. Vastra made the movement look fluid and planned, with a tuck roll that landed her soundlessly and deliberately in a half crouch cradling a weapon to her chest. The Doctor slid in next to her, landed with a barely audible thump, before scrambling backwards in a crabwalk until his back was up at the barrels.

“It will admit to you that this is not as boring as it originally threatened to be,” Vastra said, barely winded as she adjusted the controls on the pulse rifle in her arms.

The Doctor panted slightly before looking disgustedly at the gun. 

“I still don’t like that,” he said after he’d caught his breath, fiddling with his sonic as he tucked his legs out of sight, his knees up to his chest as they regrouped.

“Whether or not you like utilizing weapons, you cannot deny that they’ve saved your life,” Vastra said, dropping her voice to a whisper at the end. “It would be beneficial if you also carried..”

“No. No guns,” the Doctor said adamantly, raising his voice more than he should have.

A rumbling and scraping sound echoed further down the hall, followed by an animalistic cry. Vastra and the Doctor traded wide-eyed glances. Their cover was amassed in the middle of the hall. Though there were doors and entryways into the hall, there were even odds that whatever was behind any of them was just as dangerous as the creature now stalking him. The creature was effectively preventing them from reaching the TARDIS or any potential allies. And now they were pinned in, trapped. Vastra raised her eyebrow ridges at him and the Doctor took a huge breath. At least it couldn’t get any worse.

A shuffling sound echoed nearby, and Vastra shifted her body slightly, drawing one leg underneath her as she better held the gun in her arms. The Doctor grabbed her arm with a gasp, shaking his head.

“Doctor,” she hissed, “There is a creature out there. There are hostiles everywhere, trained soldiers and crazed hostage takers. If there is a chance to attempt this crazed rescue, we’ll have to go through whatever is out there.”

“We need to give it a chance,” the Doctor said.

Vastra looked at him like he’d lost his mind. “You realize that you ran just as fast from it before?” she asked incredulously.

“Yes, but this time is different,” he said, straightening his bowtie. 

“How?” she asked, biting of the word.

“You have a gun,” he said. “And we are out of options.”

Putting his best foot forward, the Doctor stood, giving his jacket a reassuring tug. He checked the readings from his sonic screwdriver a final time, he sighed. He had been hoping for another option and that the humans they sought weren’t really directly behind whatever it was out in the hallway. Edging out from behind the crate, he peeked around the corner quickly, before whipping back around.

“What was it?” Vastra hissed, standing carefully and edging along to wall until she was next to him.

“Don’t know,” the Doctor said with a small frown. “I was too quick.”

Vastra’s eyes widened almost impossibly wide at him as she watched him look around the corridor for a longer period of time. Peering around again, the Doctor saw exactly what had been making the noise. The creature had four legs and two arms. It had a strange third eye that he could barely make out from it staring at the opposite wall. It’s skin had an odd sheen to it looking almost blue and slimy in the patches that stood out from between the rocky looking plates. The thing was covered in tough looking armor, almost like a dinosaur, a monstrous tale swung behind it, making it look like a tail hammer like those found on some species of dinosaur. And the thing was massive.

The Doctor pulled around with wide eyes and a slightly panicked look. A cross between a Sea Devil and a dinosaur? Really not something he wanted to face right now. 

“No idea. Genetic mutation. Some Sea Devil, some dinosaur? Not sure, hang on,” the Doctor readied his screwdriver, whipping around to take a reading. 

At the sound, the beast reared its head around and the Doctor froze.

“Now,” he said shakily as the thing stared. “We don’t want to harm you. We just want to talk.”

“Get back!” Vastra yelled, throwing herself into the Doctor as an eerie glow charged from the third eye.

Vastra fired off a shot before grabbing the Doctor and tugging him to the floor. A blast rocked the hall around them, dirt raining on their heads as the ground rumbled, the blast missing them and firing into the wall to their left. Vastra had half of her body braced, covering the man’s below her, wincing only slightly when a larger than normal chunk of ceiling hit her in the shoulder.

The smell of burning engulfed the hall making them both begin to cough. Vastra rose cautiously from her crouch, looking first for the creature that had been responsible for the blast. It lay on its side, legs occasionally twitching. Looking at the Doctor, she held the weapon in front of her as she carefully approached. Her aim was commendable, but she hadn’t been sure enough that she had hit her moving target, especially when she had been moving as well.

“Poor thing,” the Doctor said, finally near enough.

The whimpers were certainly pitiable. Vastra’s shot had damaged most of his third eye, and a portion of his head. Its legs twitched slightly as it mewled. Vastra sighed as she carefully walked around it.

“I’m sorry,” the Doctor whispered.

Vastra’s weapon fired again. The body twitched once and laid still. The Doctor looked angrily up at her, opening his mouth to protest when he saw her face. She looked down sadly at it. It was honestly the first time that the Doctor had seen a powerful emotion on her face besides anger. Her face hardened before quickly grabbing his arm.

“Come,” she said harshly. “Someone will have heard that.”

Together they moved quickly into the next hallway. The Doctor checked his time. Twenty minutes. They had twenty minutes to dissolve a planetwide hostage situation. Knowing the danger and knowing the price, he still had to fight against the small smile that threatened to split his face. Finding a side hallway, they ducked in, just in time to avoid two of the UnderDogs walking away from the other signals.

“Myrka,” Vastra hissed harshly, checking over the weapon in her arms. “They fiddled even more with it. Isn’t it bad enough that it has no will of its own, they starting splicing in old Silurian genes too?”

“Ah that was it!” the Doctor said, almost too loudly, hushing quickly. “Faced them once. Turned their programming against its master.”

Instead of looking impressed, Vastra glared at him, “That would explain it then.”

“Explain what?” the Doctor asked, watching as she inched further forward in the hallway, looking for where the UnderDogs had disappeared down.

“Why the skin was different,” Vastra said, looking at him accusingly. “They needed to be able to kill them with these.”

Vastra hefted the weapon slightly disgustedly to make her point. He moved to reply but she waved a hand to shush him. The UnderDogs were back.

“Ian, I don’t like this,” one of them whispered. “You told me that it would be grandstanding. That they would give in easily. At this rate, we’ll have to kill one to prove our point.”

The two had stopped when she spoke and Ian turned to reply.

“You had to know this going in,” he said. “We need change. We’re going to have to demand it.”

Vastra waited until they continued on, listening carefully to their footsteps as they neared the corridor that she was hiding in, flattened against the wall. When Ian neared enough, she struck. Her right hand she turned into a flat sword, striking up the side of his neck with precision so that he crumpled like a stone. The other, Vastra reached out on her recovery from the blow, grabbing the other’s left arm with her left hand, and the neck with her right. She spun back into the corridor, slamming the UnderDog’s body into the wall.

“Do not cry out,” Vastra hissed with a low voice, her hand threateningly tightening around the neck in her grasp. “Tell us your name boy, be quick.”

The Doctor cleared his throat behind her, somewhat uncomfortably before he said, “That’s a woman.”

Vastra threw have a glare over her shoulder before she turned her attention to their prisoner, saying, “It’s always hard to tell with apes. Unimportant anyway. Well? Speak!”

“I-it’s Kaylin,” she stammered as Vastra loosened her grip somewhat.

“Good. Kaylin. This is what I need you to do. We will ask you questions. You will keep your responses to only one word. One word to tell us what we need to know. Only one. Do you understand?” Vastra said, tightening her hand slightly as threat.

Kaylin opened her mouth to reply before she closed it again. Finally, she just said, “Yes.”

“Good. Now, are the hostages being held down the hallway you were walking towards?” Vastra asked.

“Yes,” she replied.

“How many are holding them?” Vastra asked.

“Six,” she replied.

“Why are you doing this,” Vastra said, her eyes narrowing. “From what I overheard, you are certainly not going to be a willing executor.”

Kaylin paused longer now, thinking, before she said, “Cause.”

“Your cause? What is your cause?” Vastra asked. “Are you looking to start the global war my people truly would welcome?”

Kaylin’s eyes widened as she shook her head as much as she could, before she said, “Undercities.”

“Earth’s Undercities?” Vastra asked.

“Yes,” Kaylin replied.

Vastra darted a glance to the unconscious man on the floor, before looking back at Kaylin. “Listen carefully. Your cause is flawed. There is a group of my people that let you down here. I am uncertain how deep this conspiracy goes among them. All I do know, is that they will now be looking for you. They wish this operation to start a global war. Which is surely what will be happening with the execution of your hostages and the demands made.”

Vastra paused, allowing her captive to speak.

“Help,” was the word Kaylin chose.

Vastra’s eyes narrowed as she asked, “You ask for us to help?”

“Myself,” Kaylin said.

“You wish to help?” Vastra asked.

“Yes,” Kaylin said.

“Good, wait here,” Vastra said, releasing her.

Holding the pulse of a person under your hands was a telling thing. Once her adrenaline had settled slightly, and she was forced to think before speaking, her heartbeat remained level throughout the conversation. There were no other tells of a lie. Vastra turned to the Doctor with almost complete trust that the girl would do as she was told. With a hurried whisper, she explained her idea. The Doctor nodded.

“Very well,” Vastra said, happy to be given the lead of the operation. She simply had to trust in the Doctor’s ability to fulfill his end.

Minutes later, Kaylin was leading the Doctor at gunpoint into the clearing of hostages, his hands laced on top of his head, leaving Ian expertly tied up and gagged with strips of his own uniform, stashed in an alcove. The helmet that the Doctor had remembered the others wearing was collected from where she had left it and donned a few paces before the hall emptied into the clearing. When they paused for her to dress herself in the dark, the Doctor did another quick scan of the clearing in front of them, making an interested noise. Vastra was nowhere to be seen. 

Prodding him further ahead, the Doctor quickly did a rapid count of the hostages. So far, everyone was still here. The humans had been moved however so they sat near the Silurians. One of the Silurians was sporting an impressive cut that seemed to be swelling underneath it as he watched taking up most of her forehead. One of the male Silurians had apparently been allowed to tend to her, because he was lightly dabbing at her forehead. All the others were still bound as before. And Kaylin’s information had been correct: there were only six in the clearing. All except one were still wearing the full helmets.

“What happened?” barked the one that had made the ransom demand. 

The Doctor assumed he was their leader. He was the only one that had any of his face revealed. The others stayed silent, watching.

“This one attacked my partner and me while we made a quick patrol,” Kaylin said, her voice carefully neutral. “After we subdued him, he said that he was here on behalf of the hostages. To negotiate. My partner didn’t believe him. He told me to bring him here and then he went to do another sweep.”

“WHAT?” the man roared. “We are minutes to the deadline. This man appears, and he decides to make a sweep _ALONE_?”

“I told him that you wouldn’t approve,” Kaylin said, “But he was insistent.”

“Dammit!” he yelled, “We’re so _close_. Beta, go bring him back. If he found tracks, help him search. We can’t have our next communication interrupted. Especially not now.”

His voice went gradually quieter and calmer as he spoke. The way that he said communication set the Doctor’s hair on end. The way that the leader was looking now looking at him, made him swallow hard. He barely acknowledged the exit of one of the armed men from the clearing.

“About that,” the Doctor said.

“Shut him up,” the leader said, turning to the video equipment set up opposite the hostages.

Kaylin pushed him forward with the gun.

“You don’t want to know about the traitor?” the Doctor asked.

The leader’s back went ramrod straight in an instant, whirling to face him. The Doctor gave him his most innocent expression in return. He crossed back over to him, squinting into his face. The intimidation factor was unfortunately not what it should have been since the man had to look up at him. The leader remedied it by grabbing the Doctor’s shirt roughly and yanking him down until their eyes were level.

“What traitor?” he hissed.

The Doctor swallowed and shrugged as much as the position allowed, before replying, “How else did you think I found you so easily? How did you get the knowledge to sink beneath the earth so precisely? Your partners want out.”

“What are you talking about?” he asked.

The Doctor’s eyes flicked up and past the man’s shoulder to one of the remaining four UnderDogs guarding the hostages. The leader whirled gun pointing at one of the helmeted forms at the end of the group of Silurians. Immediately the soldier dropped his weapon, raising his hands.

“You?” he hissed. “You?”

“No!” the male voice replied. “Why are you trusting him?”

“Because I never liked you Gamma,” he said. “And because he’s right. How did he get here?”

“It’s a Silurian,” the Doctor said. 

“What?” the leader barked, his gun still trained on Gamma who still had his hands raised.

“The one of you that is Silurian. That’s your traitor,” the Doctor said.

“What are you talking about. We wouldn’t ally ourselves with any primeval lizard,” he said.

“Oh really?” the Doctor asked.

The next happened so quickly that he almost didn’t process it. Vastra moved and crashed the end of her gun against the helmet of the guard closest to the entrance. The leader whirled with his gun, searching for a tell among the armed guards, all looking around at each other with suspicion. Kaylin used the opportunity to back up behind him as he now swung a gun at the new threat. The Silurian who had been doctoring the injured female grabbed the gun that Gamma had dropped, swung around a fired at almost the exact moment that Kaylin hit the leader in the back of the head with her weapon.

The confusion lasted only a moment until both Kaylin and Vastra had their weapons trained on the only two UnderDogs still standing. The Doctor’s eyes widened, running and skidding on the floor to reach the UnderDog that the Silurian had shot, now bleeding out on the floor.

“No!” he whispered, “No, no, no no no no. Come on, hey. Hey.”

The Doctor quickly lifted off the helmet revealing the female Silurian he knew had been there, now gasping for breath.

“Get back!” the Silurian shouted to him, “If she’s the traitor then she can -!”

“I know what she can do,” the Doctor shouted back over his shoulder, before returning to gently touching the face in his hands that seemed so desperate to tell him something. “It’s okay. It’s okay, I know.”

Her eyes frantically searched his face, flicking between his eyes before she seemed to see what she needed. Her hand fluttered against his were it pressed into her wound. She moved something against his fingers. The Doctor’s hand closed around it. Her eyes smiled determinedly and she nodded shortly before she struggled to breathe in once more. Letting the breath out in a sigh, she didn’t try to take another. 

The Doctor slowly lowered her head and torso to the floor and closed her eyes, fury in his every movement. Deliberately ignoring the hostages, he turned instead to the two remaining UnderDogs.

“Tie them up,” he said to Kaylin, nodding at the crumpled kidnappers on the floor, “And untie the hostages. Now then.”

The Doctor stood and straightened his jacket with a tug. Vastra adjusted her aim after Kaylin handed her her gun, now keeping her sights trained on the two UnderDogs still standing. The Doctor stared them down.

“I believe it is time to escort us back to the surface, yes?” the Doctor said.

The group was paraded down the short corridor. The Doctor took up the first group of delegates and the two standing UnderDogs. The rest came up in short groups, making sure that all were transported up, even Ian who had been retrieved from where he had been left and the killed Silurian. Security teams from the Earth Empire and Silurian forces under the Earth had joined them.

“I just would like to hastily assure all parties involved that the delegation had no knowledge of this treachery,” the male Silurian dignitary was saying to a gathered group. “We have every wish for peace between Silurians and Humans.”

The Doctor looked up from the conference he was holding with two members of the Eurasian ambassadors. Vastra, who had been watching mainly from a distance leaning against the wall of the building, pushed off quickly and walked towards him. She was learning quickly how to distinguish when he was going to do something interesting. All of his flitting about and talking to all of the groups before had been boring, even when he had been speaking to her own people.

“I beg your pardon?” the Doctor asked, moving to stand next to the Silurian woman who had been injured and had refused medical attention, instead choosing to stay at the speaker’s side.

“I’m sorry, who are you?” he asked, looking quite affronted at being interrupted.

“I’m the Doctor, and who are you?” he asked, their combined voices doing more to draw in a crowd than the Silurian speaking alone. Vastra didn’t seem to be the only one sensing a conflict.

“My name is Reeltane, I am one of the Silurian representatives,” he said with narrowed eyes.

“Oh good,” the Doctor said with a slightly dangerous smile, “One of means there are others. So when they take you into custody at least the proceeding won’t be too hampered.”

Stepping forward, and now deliberately talking louder over the voices of protest from either side, the Doctor said, “Now I’m sure you’ve been wondering, or at least I’ve been wondering, how does a planetwide, underground, human organization get a group of highly protected, highly important dignitaries underground into a very secret, very isolated, very _Silurian_ hiding area in order to make ransom demands.”

He looked around, waiting in the silence that he had now created until he continued, “No? Just me then? Well, I suppose a lot has gone on in the last hour. But now think, if you can. The only death was a Silurian member of this group, a hidden member of this group, which I of course think is odd. I mean,” he forced a laugh before continuing, “Where’s the sense? None of them knew who she was, what she was, yet she was undoubtedly the one who led them where they went, yes? Then there’s the timing, yes the timing, which really was so perfect. If I had a guess, I bet the Silurians wanted to introduce themselves a bit before taking the lift, yes?”

“What has that to do with anything?” Reeltane spat, as the humans looked at each other in confusion.

“And I bet it was even your idea, wasn’t it?” the Doctor said, before turning on him. “Reeltane.”

All eyes were now on the Silurian ambassador. Even his wounded protector seemed to be forming suspicions in her mind as she took a step away with narrowed eyes.

“Because, I’ve dealt with Silurian transport before in order to know how precise it can be and how difficult to track someone’s movements. Nearly impossible for humans, even now, but with inside help? Of course the Silurian who was shot could do it, but there was no guarantee that there would be humans in the ransom party unless…” the Doctor said. “Unless, the one giving the signal made sure that the humans were still there.”

“Signal? What are you talking about? Someone confine this man, he is clearly taking leave of his senses,” Reeltane said, but others seemed to be following the Doctor’s train of thought.

“Now I know you didn’t count on me,” the Doctor said. “Rescue before any of the executions wasn’t part of the plan was it? Then you had to get rid of the only link to the plan. And you almost did. But she was clever even in the last moment.”

The Doctor lifted a small silver device from his pocket. “Now here we have a communication device. Silurian in design, but also very specific in its purpose. Short range signals, meant to penetrate deep into the earth or from miles down in the earth to the surface. Good for the purpose to, locater device. Nothing like a mobile or a communicator. Now, our ‘traitor’,” he said, nodding at the Silurian body laid off to the side, “Had this one. Which stands to reason she was talking to her own people. Problem is, this is just a receiver. When there are many scouts and one rendezvous point, it’s handy. Now, if I’m very clever, which I am, I should be able to trace that signal back to….”

The Doctor aimed his sonic screwdriver at the device, playing a bit with the settings until a low sound, like static or feedback started low and started screaming loudly in the enclosed space, causing many to cover their ears in pain. The Doctor only walked closer to Reeltane, holding the receiver out in front of him making the sound grow louder. It grew loudest at his right side when the Doctor retrieved something from Reeltane’s pocket, holding it aloft to the gasps of outrage and indignation. The female at his side reeled backwards.

“Reeltane!” she cried, “What have you done?”

“Quiet!” he hissed, “Clearly I am being framed. I have never seen that before in my life. This man is clearly attempting to frame me and has been behind this entire thing.”

“Oh clearly. Then why is it when we were held underground, against our will, that we met up with some of your compatriots, they seemed eager to brag about their knowledge of you?” the Doctor asked.

“They would never-” he started, infuriated, before he hesitated, realizing what he had done, “By that I mean.”

“Take him,” the female at his side said, disgusted.

Two of the six sisters-in-arms were immediately at his arms, escorting him away, leaving the Silurian woman and the Doctor standing together.

“I didn’t believe you,” she said whispering to him, her voice still loud to his ears even as the shouts and demands for explanations clamored around them.

“Telya,” he said with a sigh. “I don’t like being right with these things, I really don’t. How did the other thing work out.”

Telya shook her head disgustedly. “They were found. They attempted to evade capture, but your coordinates and descriptions know have them held in our custody below the earth. He’s my younger cousin. Males are supposed to me the level-headed ones that think with their minds. We hold that it is because they would not have the stamina to become soldiers, while they think it is our quick anger that lends to us following our active careers. I find it also makes them devious.”

Telya looked quickly to the Doctor, saying, “With that said I’ll have you know I adore my mate with all my heart and body.”

“I had no doubt,” the Doctor said with a smile. “They’ll be tried then?”

“Yes,” Telya said. “You have saved us a war Doctor. We owe you a debt. All my people.”

The Doctor gave her a half smile, “I may have to call you up on that someday.”

“We take our debts seriously Doctor,” Telya said, one of the soldiers coming up behind her shoulder nodded as well. “Call us and we will come.”

The Doctor nodded as he said, “I hope I will never need the use of it, but it is good to know. For now though, would you be able to walk with me back to my... ship? I have the coordinates. There’s something else I would like to talk to you about.”

As they walked, Vastra carefully silent and off to the side, the Doctor spoke. Telya was technically part of the ambassadorial team because of her high ranking in the military, though not a diplomat. When the Doctor explained to her the divide on the planet between the Undercities and Overcities, Telya swore to have Undercity representatives at further talks. The Undercities meant more to the Silurians to be honest. When Vastra and the Doctor finally reentered the TARDIS, he had hope that Earth was on the right track for peace.

As the door closed behind her, the Doctor bounded up the stairs, before turning to where she was slowly walking forward, her mind years and miles away. 

“Where to next?” the Doctor asked with a grin.

Vastra frowned, cocking her head to the side, her blue eyes flashing.

“Is this a game to you Doctor? You change the fate of a people or planet and then bound away to the next challenge?” Vastra asked.

The Doctor deflated slightly, “Well not…always.”

“I’ve decided,” Vastra said, drawing herself up and holding her hands slightly in front of herself. “Telya was correct in saying that our people honor our debts very seriously. You helped me to learn the error of my ways Doctor. It was…wrong of me to vent my anger and revenge against the innocents. Therefore, I shall return. I shall clear my debt by saving an equal number of ay-…of _humans_ to the number of lives I took that day.”

“So, you don’t,” the Doctor seemed confused, but nodded. “So back to London then?”

“I think that would be best,” Vastra said with a nod.

The Doctor threw levers and adjusted settings as the TARDIS vanished and they were off again.


End file.
